Chief Innovation Officer | NIA Fellow | Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon | Digital & Innovation Lead | Green Champion | HealthTech Mentor
Last week, I talked about the World Economic Forum's report on the current state of healthcare technology, where I focused on the importance of adoption and scalability as opposed to innovation. The report also highlighted a key distinction between front-end and back-end technologies, a differentiation I believe carries significant weight in the success of healthcare delivery. Front-end technologies, which are patient-facing solutions, are often the focus of attention. However, back-end technologies that streamline and optimise operational healthcare aspects are equally, if not more, essential. For front-end technologies to function optimally, robust infrastructure and solid foundations are required, which are provided by back-end technologies. Imagine the AI potential in healthcare; without a strong back-end support system, its effectiveness is compromised. Essentially, the success of front-end solutions is largely dependent on the quality of the back-end technology. A common misconception is that implementing an expensive electronic health record system will solve all your back-end issues. We need to consider a new paradigm, where the emphasis is a shift towards using technology to support clinical pathways and operational processes rather than just storing patient records. As shown in Figure 7 of the report, innovative clinical pathway management solutions can significantly improve workflows, leading to a range of benefits. These include reducing administrative tasks, facilitating decision-making, optimising resource allocation, providing real-time information, and minimising the risk of errors and complications. This new paradigm is aimed at enhancing both the efficiency and efficacy of our healthcare delivery. So by prioritising back-end technology, we lay the groundwork for a more efficient healthcare system. This, in turn, paves the way for front-end solutions to excel, improving patient experiences and outcomes. Jack Porter Hassan Chaudhury Harry Lykostratis Caterina Lombardo Konrad Dobschuetz Michal Dytch SBRI Healthcare #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #healthcaretechnology #digitalhealth #frontenddevelopment #backenddevelopment #clinicalpathway #healthcaredelivery
Honorary Professor in Engineering & Applied Science at Aston University
3moThe backend technology and in particular data models and care pathway design is best created using openstandards data models. This is the power of #openehr. openEHR International openEHR UK . Semantic Interoperability by design.